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Pop Forecast for Nov. 21: Allied, Gilmore Girls and more

Plus, new music from The Weeknd, 3% on Netflix

Brad Pitt and Marion Cotillard shown in a scene from Allied.Photo: Paramount Pictures

Postmedia News

Published: November 21, 2016 - 5:14 AM

Chris Lackner

“You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows,” Bob Dylan sang. But these days, a guide through the seemingly endless flurry of pop-culture offerings is just what we need. With that in mind, here is what’s on the radar screen in TV, music and film for the coming week.

MOVIES

Big releases on Nov. 25: Allied; Bad Santa 2.

Big picture: Brad Pitt and French actress Marion Cotillard play an intelligence officer and resistance fighter whose fates are intertwined during the Second World War. For the record, the last time Pitt played a spy sleeping with the enemy (Mr. & Mrs. Smith) he ended up divorced and later re-married his co-star. (Sure, Brarion isn’t catchy. But you could get used to it, right?). As for the plot? Bullets fly. Sparks fly. Buttons on blouses fly off. Lines are crossed. Star-crossed lovers are double crossed. And so on. Is she a double agent? Does he care? It’s Sleeping with the Enemy meets James Bond meets The Departed, and all is fair in love and war.

Forecast: Hollywood will finally see the crossover potential and cast Thornton in The Santa Clause 4.

Honourable mention: Moana. This animated adventure finds The Rock voicing an affable demi-god named Maui, a deity built like a wrestler with the maturity of a frat boy. Maui must help a young girl named Moana on an epic sea journey to find a new island home (I’m guessing Hawaii) for her people. You can thank Walt Disney for this Christmas gift.

Alexis Bledel, left, and Lauren Graham and in Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life. [Netflix]

TV

Big events: Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life (Nov. 25, Netflix); 3% (Nov. 25, Netflix).

Big picture: These Girls are more likable than the ones on HBO. Three generations of Gilmore women return to bemoan the state of their idyllic small-town lives. This marks a new beginning for the WB/CW (2000-07) series, set in the fictional Stars Hollow, Conn. This “new season” is unveiled as four 90-minute movies (with additional “seasons” on the horizon). Nine years after the series’ finale, Rory, the youngest Gilmore, is leading a rootless — her grandmother calls it “vagabond” — life after her budding journalism career imploded. (Note: Kids of America: there is no better time to be a vagabond! Go live abroad for four years! Stat!). As for mom Lorelai, she is coming to grips with a relationship that may have passed its prime.

Meanwhile, Netflix’s first Brazilian original series is 3%, a sci-fi thriller about deep class divisions. In a near dystopian future, the elite live in a heavily fortified island utopia, while the rest of us suckers live on a Mad Maxian mainland. Select landlubbers are recruited to join the 3% based on a series of mental, physical and psychological tests — everything from assembling building blocks to bludgeoning one another to death. It’s The Hunger Games meets international cinema meets Saw meets The Maze Runner … meets your nearest escape room.

Forecast: Am I the only one who would have preferred to see Gilmore Girls: 3%, in which our plucky heroines battles for survival in the post-apocalyptic future? I bet all those skills Rory picked up as a vagabond would come in real handy.

Honourable mention: The Wonderful World of Disney: Magical Holiday Celebration (Nov. 24, ABC). This thinly veiled advertisement for Walt Disney Resorts features musical performances by the likes of Kelly Clarkson, Trisha Yearwood and Garth Brooks. Presumably, there will also be special appearances by various characters destined to soon be incarcerated or deported in Trump’s America — from Aladdin and Jasmine, to Pocahontas and Mulan, to Beast and Goofy. (What can I say? Enjoy them while you can, kids.)

The Weeknd releases the new album Starboy. [Handout]

MUSIC

Big release on Nov. 25: The Weeknd (Starboy).

Big picture: Toronto’s Abel Tesfaye isn’t just working for the weekend. He must be in the studio eight days a week. His last album (the breakout Beauty Behind the Madness) was released little more than a year ago. Tesfaye has cited Michael Jackson and Prince among his inspirations. This time around, Daft Punk joins him in studio on two tracks — a rare collaboration for the secretive electronic duo. Combine their pop-music savvy with The Weeknd’s club mystique. By now, his ubiquitous hit Can’t Feel My Face has probably hit No. 1 in multiple different galaxies. Whether you have tentacles or arms, The Weeknd’s beats are irresistible.

Forecast: Sadly, we lost a Starman this year. But at least this Canadian Starboy’s future is bright. The 26-year-old R&B sensation will take his career to new heights, exuding confidence under the ever-widening spotlight.